


A Special Secret Santa

by Natalie_13ReasonsStories



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Justin and Clay are wingmen, Love Confessions, M/M, Matchmaking, Merry Christmas everybody, Multi, Pining, Zalex, well…kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 12:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natalie_13ReasonsStories/pseuds/Natalie_13ReasonsStories
Summary: In which the group has a Secret Santa, and Zach struggles finding the perfect for his best friend (and hopefully soon to be boyfriend)





	A Special Secret Santa

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to @hannahbakersgf on Tumblr! Have an amazing Christmas everyone!

 

It was Jessica and Chloe who decide to plan the Secret Santa. 

 

They planned the idea together during one of their classes on Thursday. At lunch, the two girls explained their idea to everyone at the table. Not surprisingly, it’s Justin who’s the most excited about the idea.

 

“I never really had a Secret Santa before,” Justin admitted.

 

Zach nodded, “When we were friends with Bryce, we never really did that kind of stuff.”

 

Sheri grinned, “Well, I guess now is the perfect time.”

 

Sitting right next to her was Jessica, who was grabbing a bag from underneath the table.

 

“In this bag, there’s strips of paper. Each strip has a name of someone on it. Whichever name you pull out, that will be person you’re shopping for,” Chloe explained, “If you pull out your own name, just put it back and do it again.”

 

The group nodded, and the two girls grinned. Sheri passed the bag over to Clay, and Clay pulled out a thin strip of paper. Clay took a quick look at the strip out paper, and almost instantly blushed a bright red. Justin, who sat right next to the boy, snickered quietly.

 

By the end of lunch, each person had pulled a name out of the bag. Almostimmediately the group began talking. Chloe was whispering to Jessica about something while Clay was trying to convince Tony to tell him who he got.

 

And by the time school ended, they were all discussing gift ideas.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s Friday after school when Zach drives over to the Jensen household. When he knocks on the door, Justin is the one who opens it.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Hey. Clay and I are getting snacks in the kitchen. You want anything?”

 

Zach shrugs, “I’ll just have some water.”

 

“Cool. You can stay in the bedroom. We’ll meet you upstairs.”

 

Zach nods and makes his way up the stairs. Once he’s inside the bedroom he sighs. He can hear the sounds of Justin and Clay arguing over which brand of water would be the best. (He’s pretty Justin and Clay are the only two people in the whole school who could argue over a fucking bottle of water)

 

“Justin, please do not give him Aquafina.”

 

“It’s literally just a bottle of water!”

 

“I did some research on this when I was younger and-“

 

“You did research on water?!”

 

They continue bickering for a while before they finally come back from the kitchen. (Justin is holding a bottle of Fiji water, for your information) When they enter, they find Zach pacing back and forth. After a moment of neither of them speaking, Justin clears his throat.

 

“Dude..are you okay?”

 

Zach, who has seemed to just now notice their presence, turns around. “Yeah!Totally.”

 

He gets two skeptical looks in return from the both of the,. Justin rolls his eyes, “You’re a terrible liar. What’s wrong?”

 

The taller boy sighs, “Fine. I’m worried about the secret Santa.”

 

“Oh....Why? Is it because of who you got? Who did you get?”

 

“Do you both promise not to tell anyone?”

 

“Promise.” Clay replies.

 

“I’ll try.” Justin answers.

 

Justin sighs when he notices both the boys giving him a death glare, “Fine. I pinky promise.”

 

“I got Alex.”

 

“That’s great! You’re like his best friend, right? What are you getting him?”

 

“That’s why I’m worried!” Zach groaned, “I know his interests and all that butthe gift can’t just be ordinary. It has to be special, however I have absolutely no idea what I’m getting him, which probably makes me a shitty friend because-

 

“Technically it doesn’t make you a shitty friend.” Clay interrupts, “In fact, it might mean you’re a great friend.”

 

“How?” Zach asks, grabbing his water bottle to drink.

 

“Well, the fact that you want your gift to be perfect already says a lot. Most people would just get a gift and leave, but you’re actually trying to put effort. You should take him on a date.”

 

Zach immediately spits out his water and begins to splutter out some nonsense sounds while Justin bursts into laughter. Clay gives them a look of confusion.

 

“What?”

 

It takes a few seconds for Justin to suppress his laughter, “Clay, they’re not dating!”

 

The look of utter disbelief on Clay’s face is priceless, “They aren’t?!”

 

“No!”

 

Clay turns to Zach, “But....you at least have a crush on him right?”

 

His face turns a bright shade of red and Justin snorts, “You know your crush is obvious when even Clay Jensen is able to see it.”

 

“It’s not like he likes me back!”

 

Justin rolls his eyes, “Oh, he does for sure. You’re just too oblivious to notice.”

 

Zach decides to ignore Justin’s statement and continues, “So, what should I give him?”

 

Justin smirks and answers, “Your dic-“

 

Clay is luckily able to whack his brother with a pillow before he can complete the sentence.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alex comes over to the house almost right after their conversation finishes. The rest of the afternoon is spent playing video games, watching tv shows and talking. Zach tries to ignore Justin when he continues to smirk and wiggle his eyebrows at him for nearly the entire afternoon.

 

Both of the boys agree to sleep over at Clay and Justin’s house for the rest of the day. All four of them are laying on the floor in the living room by the end of the day.They’re finishing up the last episode of some stupid teen drama. Of course, they make fun of the show the entire time they’re watching it, and none of them can think of the last they laughed so hard.

 

Zach realizes that this is what friendship is supposed to be like. It’s supposed to be making each other happier and offering support. It’s nothing at all like his so called “friendship” with Bryce was.

 

And hopefully, it will stay that way.

 

When Zach thinks about all the memories he’s had with Bryce and his old friends, he can’t even think of a single moment where felt even similar to being this happy and carefree.

 

With Jessica, Justin, Clay and Alex, he felt like he actually belonged. Now, he never felt alone, because he knew that his friends would be there to support him.

 

All of this thinking only made him want to make sure Alex’s gift was even more perfect.

 

Because yeah sure, he’s definitely close to Justin, Clay Jessica and the rest of their group, but his relationship with Alex obviously was much different than everyone else. Alex would be the first person Zach would go to if he ever needed support, and it was the same for Alex. They were always seen together, never separated. Wherever one of them went, the other one followed. They knew nearly everything about each other. From there dream job to their go to karaoke song. No matter what it was, they knew it all.

 

And so, Zach spends the next hour or two of his life brainstorming ideas.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It’s early morning. Zach doesn’t remember what time he fell asleep last night, but it must’ve been pretty late. The sun is beginning to rise and Zach can hear noises coming from the kitchen. He refuses to open his eyes, still wanting to go back to sleep and not wanting to wake up. He could hear the sound of Justin next to him speaking.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

Zach grins slightly, and he eventually opens his eyes. He sees that Justin is still in his pajamas from the night before. Clay, who was the first to fall asleep last night, is resting peacefully on the couch. He turns to Alex, who’s right next to him and cuddling his arm. He blushes, which causes Justin to giggle quietly. He notices Justin attempting to take a quick photo of him and Alex, though he doesn’t make any attempt to stop him. He kind of wants to see the photo himself.

 

“God, you’re so in love with him. It’s kinda sad. Just tell him already!” He whispers.

 

“I’ll tell him at the Secret Santa.”

 

“Dude!”

 

“What?”

 

“That’s like two weeks away! I don’t think I can wait that long.”

 

“I’m trying to make it special! If I do it during the Secret Santa, I’ll have more time to prepare.”

 

“Fine, but if you don’t do it during the Secret Santa, I’ll tell him.”

 

“Okay.” He’s silent for a moment, staring at Alex as he laying next to him, “...Can you send me that photo?”

 

Justin grins. He knows exactly what photo he’s talking about, “What photo?” He teases.

 

Zach glares back at him, “You know exactly what photo.”

 

“Sorry, but I believe I don’t.”

 

He sighs, “The one you took a few minutes ago with me and Alex.”

 

“You mean that absolutely adorable photo of Alex cuddling your arm like a teddy bear while you look like a love sick idiot?”

 

“Yes, that one.”

 

Justin smiles at that, “I knew you would ask that for photo. He then takes out his phone, and few seconds later, he gets a notification.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

**Zach added Clay and Justin to the conversation**

 

**Zach: i need help**

 

**Justin: you still having boy problems?**

 

**Zach: yes**

 

**Justin: clay’s having boy problems to**

 

**Justin: well, girl problems actually**

 

**Justin: you get the point**

 

**Clay: I am not.**

 

**Clay: By the way it’s too***

 

**Zach: wait**

 

**Zach: DO YOU HAVE SHERI AS YOUR SECRET SANTA**

 

**Clay: Oh my gosh.**

 

**Clay: Justin, why did you have to say that?**

 

**Zach: YOU DO HAVE SHERI!**

 

**Zach: AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HER TO?**

 

**Clay: Too***

 

**Zach: Alex owes me ten bucks now**

 

**Clay: You had a bet?!**

 

**Justin: apparently Zach isn’t as oblivious as I thought**

 

**Clay: ^^ Still oblivious about the fact that Alex has a crush on him though.**

 

**Zach: he doesn’t**

 

**Justin: yes he does**

 

**Clay: Do you have some ideas about what to get him?**

 

**Zach: kinda**

 

**Justin: you know what you should give him?**

 

**Zach: what?**

 

**Clay: Justin I swear if you dick again I will leave this chat**

 

**Justin: your dick**

 

**Clay: .....**

 

**Zach: .....**

 

**Zach: smh**

 

**Clay has left the conversation**

 

**Justin has added Clay to the conversation**

 

**Clay: But in all honesty, whatever gift you give, he’ll be happy.**

 

**Clay: You could ask him on a date.**

 

**Justin: Zach said he wanted more time to plan and he said he wanted it to be romantic ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 

**Zach: fyi i said special, not romantic**

 

**Justin: special ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 

**Zach: smh**

 

**Clay: You should take him on a date. It doesn’t have it to expensive or anything like that.**

 

**Justin: he’s right. as long as you have fun, you should be good.**

 

**Clay: Just think about something you both like to do together**

 

**Justin: as much as i love playing video games, i don’t think it’s a good date idea**

 

**Clay: No, like stuff you don’t do on a regular basis.**

 

**Zach: we do road trips sometimes.**

 

**Zach: oh my gosh**

 

**Zach: i have an idea**

 

**Zach: can you guys come over**

 

**Justin: wait what**

 

**Justin: ok**

 

**Clay: Sure.**

 

**Justin: wait but what’s your plan**

 

**Zach: I’ll explain later**

 

~~~~~~~~~~

The next hour or two at Zach’s house is spent researching things to do on a road trip. Zach designs a road trip playlist, Justin does the research on things they could do, while Clay makes sure they stay within and their budget and makes a list of things to pack.

 

As Justin continues searching for things to do during the trip, Clay turns to Zach.

 

“So...we haven’t had the shovel talk yet.”

 

Zach gave him a confused look, “Shovel talk?”

 

“You know. When someone gives a person’s boyfriend and girlfriend a bunch of threats.”

 

“Oh...that. But I’m Alex’s friend. I wouldn’t hurt him.”

 

“Yeah, but we’re his friends too,” Clay replied, “So....”

 

“Look, what Clay is trying to say is that if you hurt Alex in anyway, the both of us break every single bone in your body.” Justin said bluntly.

 

“Actually, I bet I could get Tony to help us.” Clay added.

 

“Hmm, true. Maybe we could get Sheri in as well.”

 

“I bet Jessica and Chloe would-“

 

Zach sighs, “Okay, okay. I get it. If I hurt Alex, than you two have every right to beat me up.”

 

“Good. Don’t worry though. I don’t think you’d hurt Alex.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

**Justin named the conversation, “One idiot + Two Wingmen”**

**Justin: just thought we needed a group chat name**

**Justin: hows the plan going**

**Zach: im making him a letter**

**Justin: aww**

**Justin: will send us a pic of it?**

**Zach: no**

**Justin: Clay can help you fix any grammar mistakes**

**Clay: Justin, it’s a love letter. As long as it’s genuine, grammar mistakes don’t matter.**

**Justin: well, than Clay can help you make it sound more romantic**

**Clay: I think Ryan would be better at that**

**Justin: should we...?**

**Zach: NO.**

**Clay: No. Ryan is terrible at keeping secrets.**

**Justin: just send us a picture of the letter**

**Justin: please?**

**Zach: fine**

***Zach has sent a picture***

**Justin: awwwwwwww**

**Justin: i never knew you were a romantic type**

**Clay: You could make the ending a bit longer, but other than that, you’re all good.**

**Zach: It’s not too romantic?**

**Justin: ......**

**Clay: Well it kinda is a bit romantic...**

**Zach: it is?**

**Justin: but in an endearing/adorable kind of way!**

**Clay: Yeah.**

**Clay: So I think that you’ll be fine.**

**Zach: ok**

**~~~~~~~~~~**

**Zach: the letter is finished**

**Zach: I just need a picture to add to the front of the card**

**Justin: how about that photo I sent you at the sleepover**

**Justin: The one with Alex and you sleeping**

**Zach: ohh**

**Justin: you still have that pic, right?**

**Zach: yeah duhh**

**Zach: it’s a cute photo. I would never delete it.**

**Clay: what**

**Clay: I’m confused**

***Justin has a sent a picture***

**Clay: Awww**

**Clay: Do you have any other photos?**

**Zach: no. we don’t take that photos much**

**Justin: than use this one! It’s perfect**

**Zach: Ok. I’ll use this one.**

**~~~~~~~~~~**

**Zach: if I ask Alex out, will clay ask sheri out?**

**Clay: No.**

**Justin: what?!**

**Zach: why??**

**Clay: I’m asking her out after the secret Santa.**

**Zach: why after**

**Justin: that’s what I asked too!**

**Clay: it’s a secret**

**Justin: uggh**

**Clay: but I’m taking her to somewhere special and than I can ask her there**

**~~~~~~~~~~**

**Justin: Secret satan is tomorrow**

**Clay: ....**

**Justin: SANTA**

**Justin: I MEANT SATAN**

**Zach: wow i wonder what kind of secret satan has**

**Justin: uggh**

**Justin: are you guys nervous**

**Clay: that’s an understatement**

**Clay: I’m terrified**

**Zach: ^^ same**

**Justin: well you don’t really have to be**

**Justin: you could literally give him a rock and he’d be happy.**

**Clay: You can buy him a lot of things, but the greatest gift in life is love.**

**Justin: that is the most cheesy thing you have ever said, and you literally helped Zach write a love letter to Alex, so that’s saying a lot.**

**Zach: did you steal that quote?**

**Clay: Yep**

**Clay: Hubert h Humphrey. I just replaced friendship with love and changed it a bit.**

**Zach: I’m adding that to the letter**

**~~~~~~~~~~**

**Zach: FUCK**

**Zach: ASDFGHJKLZXC**

**Zach: TODAY**

**Zach: SECERT SANTA**

**Zach: THE SECRET SANTA IS TODAY**

**Clay: Well, good morning to you too.**

**Justin: dude its 6:00 in the morning.**

**Justin: how do you wake up so early**

**Zach: i guess I’m just used to it**

**Zach: BUT THE SECRET SANTA IS ODAY**

**Zach: TODAY***

**Zach: What if my handwriting is messy? Is it messy in this pic?**

***Zach has sent a picture***

**Clay: Actually, I think it looks better than usual.**

**Zach: oh thank goodness**

**Justin: holy shit**

**Justin: it’s so long**

**Zach: .......**

**Clay: .......**

**Justin: seriously it could be an essay**

**Justin: what?**

**Zach: that’s what she said**

**Clay: Gosh darn it.**

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Clay had to admit, he almost had a fucking heart attack when he found out he had gotten Sheri for his secret Santa.

 

Because how could he not? He’s been crushing on Sheri for weeks. It also didn’t help that Justin, who was the most nosy person Clay has ever met, decided to take a look at name Clay pulled out of the bag. Of course, Justin knew about Clay’s crush on Sheri, so the rest of the Justin’s day was spent giving Clay advice and being his wingmen.

 

And then on Friday Clay found out about Zach’s crush on Alex, which wasn’t really that much of a surprise. Those two boys spent so much time together and acted so much like a couple already. Everybody in the group already had their bets on how long it would take for them to get together. Ryan suspected it would take a month, Courtney said it would take a month plus an extra week, Chloe said it would take only three weeks. Everybody else thought they would get together at the Secret Santa.

 

The days went by quickly, and pretty soon it was the day of Secret Santa.

 

They’re now all gathered in Chloe’s living room. Clay’s on the couch with Justin, Tony and Sheri. Zach is sitting right next to Alex. (which isn’t really much of surprise, to be honest) Jessica is helping Chloe get chips in the kitchen. Ryan and Courtney arrive to the house a few minutes later. Once everyone’s all insideand ready to start, everyone immediately begins to argue about who should go first. The argument doesn’t end until Jessica interrupts.

 

“Chloe will do it. After all, she is the one who planned this.”

 

Once everyone finally agreed, Chloe took out her gift. The gift was neatly wrapped in a dark blue wrapping paper with snowflakes, with a white bow top it off.Chloe handed her gift over to Jessica.

 

“I knew it was you!”

 

“How?!”

 

“I just had a feeling.”

 

Jessica grinned and carefully unwrapped the gift. She opened up the black box and squealed loudly, “I love it!”

 

Inside the box, you could see a variety of different clothes and jewelry. Clay noticed a few dresses, shirts, scarfs, however there was one thing that stood out, which was a horrifyingly ugly Christmas sweater, decorated with glitter, streamers and ornaments. Jessica insists to wear the sweater for the rest of the day, even though it looks pretty uncomfortable.

 

Justin receives a memory book from Jessica. It’s filled with photos of him hanging out with everyone else in the group. Therefore e’s one particular photo of him and Clay with a face mask and a wig. Jessica, Chloe and Sheri had forced both of the boys to go shopping with them and made them buy face masks. (Justin totally doesn’t tear up when he finds a photo of him after he officially became a Jensen. Nope)

 

Clay is surprised when he finds out Justin is a secret Santa, but also he kind of isn’t. Justin is actually super good at keeping secrets when he tries really hard. The box his wrapped in a Star Wars wrapping paper. He receives a best brother ever trophy, a new video game, and a handwritten letter. The letter is actually pretty long, and it takes a while for Clay to read, but once he’s finished reading he gives Justin a hug. Nobody in the group knows what the letter even said, but they don’t ask. (Ryan does, however, attempt to take a sneak peak when they’re not looking)

 

Ryan, being as impatient as he is, ends up going next. He gives his gift to Courtney. Inside the box, there’s a crystal necklace, a ginormous rainbow flag, and a custom made poem.

 

“I realize you don’t have a pride flag, so I thought it was necessary to give you the biggest one possible.” He explained.

 

After Ryan is Alex, who gives his present to Tony. It’s a ticket to some new movie that’s coming out, a band t shirt of some sort, and a new leather jacket.

 

Tony gives his present to Ryan, which is mostly just poems, journals, books and some hairstyling product he bought on Amazon. Courtney goes after him, handing over a baby pink bag filled with make up and a gold necklace to Chloe

While Courtney is giving her present, Sheri hands over the gift she bought to Zach, which includes a box full of board games, coupons to various different places and restaurants, and a little sticky note read, “Have fun your trip with Alex! Use protection ;).”Luckily, no one in the group saw the note.

 

Finally, it was Clay’s turn. Slowly, he turned to Sheri and pulled out a plain white envelope from his pocket. He handed it to Sheri and watched as she pulled out the ticket from the envelope.

 

“Clay...”

 

“Uh, I know you really like that comic I introduced you to, and they’re having a comic book convention for it later this month. I was wondering if-“

 

Before he could even finished his sentence Sheri was already rushing towards him and giving him a hug. They stayed like for what seemed like forever, almost forgetting they were in a room full of people.

 

Justin clears his throat. His new mission is to now get Sheri and Clay together. Preferably in the very near the future.

 

They both pulled away and blush, though they are both still smiling. Sheri turns to Zach, “So, I believe Zach has a gift for Alex, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Zach glances down at the card in his hands nervously and passes it to Alex, with Justin is giving him a look of encouragement as he does so. Alex stares at the card for a moment. It’s a plain white card with a picture of him and Zach on the front. Alex can tell it’s a photo taken at the sleepover they had because they’re both wearing the same pajamas they wore that night and they’re in the living room. Alex is cuddling Zach’s arm while Zach is staring at him in a way that looks...fond? He can’t really tell. He does, however, know that either Justin or Clay took the photo.

 

He opens up the card and takes a look at the letter.

 

Dear Alex,

 

When I first found out I had gotten you for my secret santa, I was terrified as fuck. I had thousands of ideas of what to give you, but none of those gifts would be special enough. There’s hundreds of gifts I could’ve gotten you, but you’ve already given me the best one, which is your friendship, and I could never get a gift as special or as valuable as your friendship. (I kind of stole that quote from Clay, but hey, at least I changed it a bit)

 

I honestly don’t want to ever lose this friendship, but I also have secretly wanted a little more than being just friends.

 

Fuck it, let me just be straight forward. I’m in a love with you. Yes, even though steal all the blankets from me at night when we have sleepovers, I love you. Full homo. I think realized this when...

 

Alex didn’t even bother finishing the rest of the card. He the card closed and turned to Zach, who was sitting besides him, staring at him with wide eyes. He leaned in, breaking the space between them and kissed him, pressing his lips against his.

 

Fucking finally.

 

****

**Author's Note:**

> This took way too long write tbh.
> 
> I may or may not have had to google friendship quotes in order to find the perfect quote to fit this story.
> 
> Have a safe Christmas everyone!


End file.
